


An Unlikely Pairing

by Scottish_Nxte



Category: Ugly Betty
Genre: Canon LGBTQ Character, Comedy, Family Secrets, Fashion & Couture, Fluff, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Secrets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29930316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scottish_Nxte/pseuds/Scottish_Nxte
Summary: Phillippe Jones starts his new job working in the MODE closet alongside Christina McKinney. However, from the very minute he set foot in MODE, his life changed forever.He meets all the characters of MODE that we know and love, and begins to fall for an unlikely person.
Relationships: Henry Grubstick/Betty Suarez, Marc St. James/Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Character Biography:**

**Phillippe Badeux**

Phillippe has always loved fashion, that's why when a job came up in the MODE closet, he took it up. He is a rather caring and selfless person and hates seeing people being bullied. He is generous, kind and great to work with.

**Marc St. James**

Marc St. James is the assistant to Creative Director, Wilhemina Slater. He has been known to gossip, help Wilhelminia with her schemes to control the magazine, and play tricks on Betty with his friend Amanda, much to the dismay of Phillippe. He ends up falling for Phillippe after a while, even though the two aren't really similar but share the same interests.

**Brielle Claire Badeux**

Brielle is the Mother of Phillippe and Noelle Badeaux. She is a rather caring, kind and compassionate woman. However, she will never understand why her son chose to pursue fashion instead of a more higher earning profession, which he had the grades for. Nevertheless, she still dotes on her offspring like they were children again. But, underneath this kind exterior lies secrets that she hasn't even told her children.

**Noelle Badeux**

Noelle is the firm and beautiful daughter of Brielle Badeux and brother of Phillippe Badeux. She loves her brother but she's always been seen as the favourite, given she chose to pursue a profession that her Mother wished her to. However, although she was pushed by her Mother, she loves her profession and wouldn't change it for the world.

_This was going to be longer but we all know who the others are._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phillippe starts his new job at MODE and very quickly gets to know just how crazy life at MODE can be.

The morning slog on the R train from 77th Street to 23rd Street was something Phillippe knew he was going to quickly hate, a dusty subway train and being jostled about while wearing his latest Gucci black shirt and Ralph Lauren jeans wasn't great for him. The journey took about a half hour. He got out of the train and began walking up the stairs, being hassled by several buskers in the process. Oh how he loved New York.

He exited the station and began the short walk around the corner to the Meade Publications building. It always took him aback when he walked in the lobby as the decor was immaculate, with some generally well mannered people. It was now that Philippe realised he knew nobody here at all as he looked and noticed many other people talking and walking into work together.

He ran over to a packed elevator which was about to close and got in to it at the last second. He squeezed in among the accountants, models and editors and took the elevator up to the MODE floors. The lift stopped at most floors on the way up, he anxiously checked his watch and hoped that he wouldn't be late.

The lift finally got to his floor, and he stepped out into the reception. He looked around, not knowing where to go. Phillippe thought the best solution was to ask. He walked up to the desk which had a pretty, young, blonde woman sitting behind the desk talking away on the phone. He walked up to her and leaned on the desk, with a smile on his face.

"Hi, I'm Phillippe Badeux. I'm looking for the closet."

The girl looked up and quickly fixed herself before standing up from her chair and giving him a flirtatious gaze.

"Hi, Phillippe. I'm Amanda. I could show you to the closet if you like." She spoke with a sultry tone and a flirtatious gaze. It was obvious that Amanda was trying to flirt with Phillippe, unfortunately for Amanda, Phillippe liked men.

Phillippe didn't know how to respond to this as he never normally got flirted with by a girl. He decided just to be honest.

"Not my type, babe."

She sat back down behind her desk and sighed. Take the left corridor and you'll find it.

"Thanks." He chuckled to himself and made his way down the pristine halls, it took him a while but he eventually found the closet. He walked into the closet and looked around the room, which contained hundreds of different outfits and accessories, either from high fashion brands or hand-made by the seamstress. 

Speaking of the seamstress, he couldn't find her so he called out. "Hello? Anyone here."

Just then, a blonde woman peeked out from between one of the racks. "Phillippe! Perfect. This is great, your just in time."

"Christina, right?" Phillippe held out a hand and the woman walked over to shake it.

"Aye. Welcome to MODE."

He smiled and looked around the racks of handmade clothing. "Did you make all of these?"

"Yup, every last item on these racks. The ones over there are from different fashion brands, but whenever the models come in they always go and wear the brands."

Phillippe sighed. "That must suck, some of your stuff on this rack looks nicer than some of the things over there." He touched a fur jacket that was hand-made by Christina. "Like this, my god this is immaculate."

Christina smiled. "I like you already. Come on, I'll show you around."

Christina led Phillippe out of the closet and towards the office of Wilhelmina Slater. "This is where the wicked witch of the west and her assistant reside. Her assistant is somewhat tolerable but still annoying. She makes him run all manner of silly errands." 

Phillippe nodded. "Yeah, I've heard the horror stories of Wilhemina Slater."

They walked round to Daniel Meade's office, where none other than Betty Suarez was sitting at her desk.

"Ooh, Betty. This is Phillippe." Christina spun Betty's chair around so she could see them. "Phillippe, this is Betty. She's the only other person who works here that I can actually tolerate."

"Hi. It's great to meet you." Betty smiled which exposed her braces and they shook hands.

Phillippe wasn't fazed by the braces. "It's great to meet you too, Betty."

Christina smiled. "Betty is the assistant to Daniel Meade, the editor. Talking of Daniel, have you seen him today?"

Betty shook her head. "No. He was meant to be here already and I can't get a hold of him."

Christina rolled her eyes. "Typical Daniel. He's probably staying the night at some models house."

Betty and Phillippe continued their tour of MODE, taking in the canteen, studios, reception and accounting. The tour took about half an hour. They ended up back at the closet and Phillippe took a seat, Christina looked through the racks to make sure nothing had been taken. "You can't be too careful."

Suddenly, a rather flamboyant man ran into the room and began to bug Christina. "Christina. Christina. Christina."

Christina sighed and turned to face him. "What is it, Marc? You only bug me when you want something."

Marc smirked. "I do not."

Christina raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. "Believe what you want." 

Marc turned over to Phillippe. "Are you not going to introduce me?"

Phillippe stood up and walked over to him. "Phillippe. It's a pleasure."

They both shook hands and Marc smirked. "It is." They released and Marc turned back to Christina.

"Christina, can you please give me that coat. You know I really want it."

"No, Marc. You know the policy, I only give things from this closet when it gets cleared out. Even then, you'll need to sign up for it. You just need to wait another couple of weeks."

"But it might be gone by the time I get in."

Phillippe glanced over while looking through the racks. "Marc, I'm pretty sure Christina was clear enough on what she said. Don't you have other things to be doing instead of being a pain?" His tone instantly changed to that of being stern, which worked on everybody.

Marc flinched a little bit and turned on his heel and walked out. Christina turned to Phillippe. "God, where have you been all my life."

* * *

After being fashionably kicked out of the closet by Phillippe, Marc ran down the corridor towards the reception where Amanda was munching through a bag of chips.

"Mandyyyyy." He ran over and leaned on the desk. "Have you seen the new guy thats helping Christina out in the closet."

"Oh he's totally hot. He totally fell for my flirting earlier."

"Get real, he's clearly gay."

"No way, nobody can resist this."

"Anyway, he totally got mad at me while I was asking Christina for that Versace coat that she keeps in the closet, you know the brown one?"

"Oh yeah, I love that coat. It'd suit you."

"But then, Phillippe told me to beat it. It was kinda hot."

Amanda leaned in. "Really?"

"It really was. It was interesting because nobody has ever stood up to me like that."

Their conversation was cut short by Wilhemina barking out his name, which made Marc instantly stop what he was doing to go and see her. Amanda resumed answering the phones and eating chips.

* * *

Betty had stopped by the closet while she was on break. Christina invited her to sit for a while and have a coffee with Phillippe and Christina. They were enjoying each others company and it was known that they'd make a really good trio.

Phillippe took a biscuit and bit into it. "Christina, you mentioned about clearing out the closet earlier, what's that about?"

Betty looked at her too. "Yeah, what is the big deal with that."

Christina put her mug down. "At the end of each season, I give away everything here in order to make room for the next seasons items. For an entire day, this place turns into the perfect description of a livid hell."

Phillippe tilted his head. "How so?"

Christina took a sip. "These people all work at a fashion magazine, clearing out the closet means they get free access to things that are just about to be publicly released. Last time it got so bad that three beauticians ended up in Hospital with a broken nose, after fighting over a Gucci handbag."

Philippe and Betty both recoiled. 

Phillippe couldn't help but laugh. "My god, all that over a Gucci handbag?"

Christina nodded. "Yep, they practically turn into vultures."

Betty smiled. "I'm not here for the fashion, I'm just glad to get my foot in the door."

Christina looked at her outfit. "No offense Betty, but if you really want to fit in here you should probably wear something more couture. I've got tons of stuff in here."

Betty smiled again. "I'm sure I'll be fine. Look, I've got to go run another errand for Daniel. I'll hopefully catch you at lunch."

They both bid Betty goodbye and then set to work on new outfits for tomorrow's shoot.

* * *

Quitting time of Six O'Clock in the Evening came along, Phillippe picked up his bag and put on his coat. Christina quickly popped out of the closet, all ready to go.

"Come on, let's walk to the station together." Christina looped an arm in his own and they walked out together, much to the dismay of Amanda. They walked down to the station and bid each other farewell, before Phillippe went down the stairs and made the R train by a second. He got off at his stop and walked the short distance to his house. He opened the door and walked in to the smell of Pizza being made. You see, Phillippe lived with his Mom and Sister, and she always did her homemade pizza on a special occasion.

Brielle Badeux was your typical Mother, she was rather short but had an extremely kind face and nature. She always wanted the best for her two kids, even though they were in her twenties. They've told her they don't need her to fuss, but she always does.

"Mom, I'm home! Phillippe called out as he hung up his jacket and took off his shoes. Although his Mother was kindly, she always expected her kids and guests to take off their shoes.

"Hi, Honey! I'm in the kitchen doing your favourite homemade pizza. I know how much you love it." 

Phillippe walked into the kitchen and his Mother pulled him into a hug.

"How was your day, sweetie."

"It was really good. My co-workers are lovely, so is my boss. I've got a feeling it's going to be great."

Brielle nodded. "You know I wish you went off to law school like your sister, I may not fully understand why you chose to pursue fashion, but I'll support you."

"Merci mère." Phillipe smiled and sat down at the dinner table. "What time are you expecting Noelle home?"

Brielle brought her family over to New York from Paris for reasons she wouldn't care to reveal to her children. She was content and they were happy, that was all Brielle truly cared about.

Just as Phillippe finished the question, Noelle walked through the door and took off her leather coat.

"Phew, it's certainly beginning to get colder out there."

Noelle and Phillippe were twins, but Noelle was older by a minute. She was a tall, slender and beautiful woman who you could tell was born in France. Phillippe and Noelle loved each other, as they had grown up together as siblings. They were like peas in a pod.

"Bonjour Noelle. How was work?" Brielle asked as she put the pizzas into the oven.

"Yes, work was rather eventful today. I got a new client who is trying to fight for custody of his kids." Noelle was a lawyer at a big firm, having graduated law school like her Mother had wished. Only Phillippe chose to stray off that path. Brielle was accepting of Phillippe's homosexuality as was Noelle, which he was thankful for. However both Noelle and Phillippe had been unlucky in love up until this point. It was a shock that Noelle was still single given her sheer beauty.

After a while of talking, the pizzas were ready. Brielle's pizzas were always the best, you could tell they were baked with love. She rolled out the dough in a way that it wasn't a perfect circle, but rather oddly shaped. She used her own homemade tomato sauce which many of the neighbours asked for on a daily basis. She then put on the toppings with a slight sprinkle of olive oil and sea salt.

After dinner, they normally retired to the living room to watch some television. However, it was already eight at night. Although this was still early, Phillippe was tired. He joined them for a bit of television before retiring upstairs to his bedroom. He undressed and hopped into his bed and took out his phone. He had already added in Christina and Betty's numbers as well as a group text for the three of them.

* * *

**NEW MESSAGES (3):**

**Christina -**

Hi Phillippe, I hope your first day was great. See you tomorrow - Christina

**Betty -**

Phillippe! It's Betty. I had a really great time with you and Christina today. Can't wait to see you tomorrow. x

**Dad -**

Howdy sport! I hope your first day at MODE was a great one, I've always known how much you love fashion. All the best and stay in touch, Love Dad.

* * *

Phillippe looked at the texts and replied to them, putting in a bit extra with the text from his father. He hadn't seen his father since he had suddenly moved away from France, but they still kept in touch. He never knew the reason why his Mother wouldn't let their father come over to see them. Come to think of it, his Mother had been harbouring a lot recently. She wasn't herself...


End file.
